The 50 Greatest Sports Figures From Louisiana

There's a difference between loyalty to the home team--athletesimported to play for our local colleges and pro franchises--andthe deep emotional bond we share with hometown heroes, the locallegends we knew back when. They are the boys and girls from nextdoor, or the next town. We watched them grow up, watched themplay when it was still play. Unfortunately, these luminaries arealmost inevitably dispersed because of sport's mercenary nature,lured away by scholarships or contracts. Well, we're bringing'em all back home for the millennium--not necessarily to wherethey were born, but to where they first showed flashes of thegreatness to come. Thus, Broadway Joe is in Pennsylvania, notAlabama or New York; and the Mailman is in Louisiana, not Utah.The result: the top 50 from your state and, on the followingpages, a list of those from all 50 states. In short, theultimate home teams.